CENTENNIAL —For the man accused of killing 12 defenseless people at an Aurora movie theater, Arapahoe County District Attorney George Brauchler said Monday the only deserving punishment is death.

Standing with formal straightness, Brauchler said in court he will seek the death penalty against theater-shooting suspect James Holmes. He reached his conclusion after personally speaking to 60 family members of the slain, Brauchler said, and, in total, he said his office had reached out to more than 800 relatives of victims, shooting survivors and their families.

"It is my determination and my intention that, in this case, for James Eagan Holmes, justice is death," Brauchler said.

Victims, sitting on one side of the courtroom, reached for tissues, wiped tears and reacted to the decision that was widely expected with muted expressions of grief.

On the other side of the room, Holmes' demeanor — something resembling passive observation — changed little with Brauchler's words. Holmes' parents, who were sitting in the court pews a few feet behind their son, held hands tightly. Later in the hearing, Holmes' mother, Arlene, pressed her hands to her mouth, placed her elbows on her thighs and rocked back and forth.

Later, outside the courtroom, shooting survivor Marcus Weaver said the announcement came with mixed emotions. While he said he supports execution for an unrepentant Holmes, Weaver said he is wary of the length of a death-penalty case.

"Your fate has been decided by the people you hurt," Weaver said, speaking of Holmes. "You need to just plead guilty, and we can all move forward."

"It's painful to go to all that court," Weaver said.

Brauchler's announcement set toppling a series of dominoes that will lengthen the case significantly.

The series began when the judge who had been overseeing the case — William Sylvester, the 18th Judicial District's chief judge — reassigned the case because a death-penalty trial would put too much demand on his schedule. New Judge Carlos Samour then canceled an Aug. 5 trial date for the case and set a new one for Feb. 2.

Before then, Samour set two weeks-long hearings for prosecutors and defense attorneys to argue the dozens of motions that are expected to be filed before the trial. The trial itself is scheduled to last four months. Defense attorneys said the trial could take nine months — and asked that it not start until summer or fall of 2014. That irritated prosecutors, who say the case is dragging on.

District Attorney George Brauchler arrives at district court for a hearing in the case of Aurora theater shooting suspect James Holmes in Centennial, Colo., on Monday, April 1, 2013. (Ed Andrieski, Associated Press)

"They built the Alcan highway in eight months," prosecutor Rich Orman said of the road between Alaska and Canada. "There's no reason we can't complete this case in twice that time."

That brought an outraged response from Holmes' attorneys, who said they are not stalling.

"They are trying to execute our client," defense attorney Tamara Brady said. "We will do whatever we can to save his life."

The case could be delayed even longer if Holmes' attorneys decide to launch a mental-health defense, as they have repeatedly hinted they will. In court Monday, Brady said Holmes' lawyers are "working as fast as we can" to decide whether to launch an insanity defense but have no timeline for when they will make their decision.

District Attorney George Brauchler, third from right, walks with others Monday outside the Arapahoe County Justice Center during a hearing in the Aurora theater-shooting case. (Joe Amon, The Denver Post)

Even if prosecutors win a conviction and a death sentence, it could be decades before the sentence is carried out, said Denver lawyer and legal analyst Craig Silverman. He cited the case of Nathan Dunlap, who is still awaiting execution nearly 20 years after the 1993 murders of four people for which he was convicted.

Gone — at least for now — is the talk about a plea offer from Holmes that dominated court filings last week. It appears Brauchler is committed to seeking execution, Silverman said.

"It's like a declaration of war," Silverman said of the death-penalty announcement. "(Holmes' lawyers) will fight like crazy for their client. And Brauchler knows that."

Holmes is charged with 166 counts of murder, attempted murder and other crimes in connection with the July 20 attack at the Century Aurora 16 movie theater. The attack killed 12 people, wounded 58 more by gunfire and left a state, once again, in mourning over a terrible mass shooting.

While the death-penalty announcement drew most of the attention Monday, it occupied only a few minutes of the day's hearing in the case. Attorneys spent much of the day arguing over whether a Fox News reporter should have to testify about her sources for an article on a notebook that Holmes sent to his psychiatrist.

The debate ended without resolution Monday and is set to resume April 10, when Holmes' lawyers will requestion an Aurora police detective. If that questioning fails to turn up leads on the leak, then Samour could order the reporter, Jana Winter, to testify. If she refuses, she could face up to six months in jail for contempt of court.

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